Tractor.



8.10.61 R.N'.H1BLET.

TRACTOR.

A'PFUC-ATION FiLED NOV` 6, 1915.

Patented Supt. 18, 1917.

B. C. R. N. RIBLET.

ITRACTOR. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 6.1915.

Patented Sept. 18, 1917 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

a www1/dow,

B. C. & H. N. RFBLET.`

TRACTOR.

APPUCAUON FILED Nov. s. 1915.

PatentedSept. 18, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEETS.

, tractor.

'UNTTED sTATEs PATENT orricn l BYRON C. RIBLET AND ROYAL N. RIBLET, 0F SPOKANE, 'WASI-IINGION.

TRACTOR.

. Application filed November 6,1915.

invented certain new and useful Improve-` ments in Tractors, of which the following is a full and clear specification. s

The object of the present invention is vto produce an improved form of tractor, for pulling ordinary agricultural machines,'s'uch as are now commonly used upon farms, and hauled by three or four horses. Much trouble has been experienced with farm tractors, as heretofore used, because of the difficulty in steering them over the soft ground on which they frequently have to operate and also because of their tendency to skid or slide on side hills.

These diiiiculties are overcome in the present invention in Which the motive power, usually in the form of an internal combustion engine, the .gearing and seat for the driver are all mounted upon a rigid frame Which is hung upon the horizontal axis of the traction Wheel or ,Wheels in approximately balanced condition, said rigid frame being suitably journaled Within an inclosing trailer frame, mounted upon trailer Wheels and carrying suitable anti-friction rollers, which resist the vertical and horizontal strains between the tractor frame and the trailer frame. Suitable steering mechanism, under the control of the driver, is carried by the tractor frame for rotating` the tractor frame horizontally in the trailer frame, to properly direct the course of the The rigid tractor frame includes a` channel iron guide ring suspended from it and resting concentrically within a channel iron guide ring carried by the trailer frame, the traction Wheel or Wheels being mounted entirely Within the tractor frame and its guide ring.

In order that our invention may be fully understood We will irst describe the same with reference to the accompanying drawings and afterward point out the novelty more particularly in the annexed claims. I'

Figure 1 -is a side elevation of our 1mproved-farm tractor;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail sectional plan view, illustrating parts of the steering mechanism, and the guide rollers between the inner and outer guide rings;

Specication of Iietters Patent.

Serial No. 60,142.

Figs. 4 and 5 are enlarged detail vertical sectional views of parts of the same.

1 is a traction Wheel of any approved construction. The traction Wheel illustrated in the drawings is of the form known in the trade as the Riblet square wheel, (covered by Patent No. 1,134,960, dated Apri-l 6th, 1915) but the particular form of traction Wheel is not essential in the present inventionv as, 1n fact, we may use either the single broad Patented Sept. i8, 7191*?.l

faced traction Wheel, such as shown, or We may employ instead two tractionwheels mounted upon a common axis.

Traction Wheel or Wheels 1 are suitably mounted upon a horizontal axle 5, projecting laterally at both sides and supporting upon theirends journal boxes 6, from which is hung` the oblong tractor frame 10. The frame 1() is formed of heavy channel iron properly shaped and braced to make it rigid and is hung upon the axle 5,' with its length extending at right angles to the axle. The line of suspension of the oblong frame upon the axle approximately centrally of Yits length is determined by the approximate weight of the `'parts of the mechanism to be mounted'upon the opposite ends 0f the frame, it being desired to nearly balance the frame and mechanisms carried by it upon the axis of the tractor Wheel or Wheels.

\ Mounted upon one end of the rigid tractor frame 10 is a motor 15 of any desired construction, shown more or less diagrammatically in the drawings as an internal combustion engine. The crank shaft 16, carrying a driving sprocket -17 (indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1) drives the transmission chain 18,' which extends to the opposite end of the oblong frame 10 and gears with a sprocket wheel 20, which operates suitable transmission gearin mounted in the case 25. The particular 'fo is not illustrated in the drawing as it may be of any approved construction. The transmission, as shown, includes a pair of driving sprockets, 30, mounted upon a shaft projectrm of a transmissiongearing ing at opposite sides from the casing 25 and operating upon. sprocket chains 35, which encircle the sectional sprocket .drive Wheels I guide rings 40 and 50.

guide rollers carried by the trailer frame,

which will now be described.

50`is the channel iron guide ring of the trailer frame, which surrounds the tractor- The outer .guide ring 50 also carries a series of four horizontal guide rollers 65, mounted upon vertical axes 65 located by brackets 66 secured to the outer guide ring,

the rollers being presented through horizontal slots 67 to engage the vertical face of the channel 42 of inner ring 40, as shown in Fig. 5 of the drawing. These guide rollers 65 resist all strains in a horizontal direction between the tractor frame and the trailer frame.

The guide ring forming the' forward part of the trailer frame is rigidly secured to the channel iron side frames 70, which spread outwardly therefrom and are braced at the rear into a suitable draft frame 71, carrying a draft eye or hook 72 and mounted upon the axle 75 supported by draft wheels 80.

The outer guide ring 50 is provided at its rear with a segment rack 85, the teeth of which are presented y,forwardlyand intermesh with pinion S6, keyed to the lower end of a vertical steering shaft 87, suitably journaled in bearing 88 carried by a cross brace 10 of the tractor frame l0. This steering shaft 87.*is provided at its upper endf wit i a.. worm gear (not shown), meshing with a- Worm Si), formed on the forward end of a horizontal steering shaft/90, properly journaled in the gear casing 91, braced by the vertical stay rod 92. The horizontal steering shaft 90 carries the steeringr wheel 95, which is presented directly in lfront of the drivers seat 100, mounted upon arm 101, secured ,to the rear end of the tractor frame 10. 105 represents a lever for controlling the clutch of the gear.

It will be observed that the trailerframe carrying the outerguide ring 5 0 is sup-` ported at its forward end upon the inner guide ring 40 of the tractor frame and tends to stabilize the tractor frame'. The antifriction rollers betwcen tlie guide rin of the tractor frame and the guide ring o the trailer frame resist all horizontal and verticalistrains between the two frames and afford ellectivc anti-friction bearings upon which the tractor frame can readily turn in a horizontal plane. The weight of the en gine gearing and driver is approximately balanced upon the tractor frame, which turns with the tractor wheel under the com; trol of the steering mechanism. The draft eye or hook is preferably directly behind the traction wheel, so that pull upon the mi chine being operated will always be in the direction in which the A tractor is me fd. The traction wheel is a combined propelling and steering wheel. It will be observed that the rigid tractor frame is an oblong shape with its length extending at right angles to the axle of the traction wheel. The motor7 the driving gear and seat for the driver are proportionately arranged upon opposite ends of this rigid oblong frame, so as to approximately balance the weight of the frame and rmechanism supported by it upon the axle of the traction wheel. This weight is also arranged as near as possible equally upon opposite sides of the central longitudinal plane of the traction wheel. This arrangement is of value in'increasingthe stability of thev machine. The wheel guide frame, surrounding the guide ring of the tractor frame and spreadin laterally therefrom, as it projects rearwar ly to the axle, presents an effective resistance against any tendency to tip over and is also important as resisting any tendency that the machine might other wise have to skid or slide upon side hills. The main weight of the machine being properly balanced upon the traction wheel affords excellent traction and, as in steering, the tractor frame and traction wheel turn together, this. relation of the weight of the traction wheel is always maintained.4

We claim:

1. A tractor comprising traction means, 'a rigid frame supported by and surrounding said traction means and carryingva guide ring, power mechanism mounted upon said rigid frame on one side of said traction means' and having drivin@ connection with said traction means, a wllieeled stabilizing guide frame car ing a guide ring concentricA with the gui e ring onthe rigid frame rrigid frame horizontally relative to said guide frame.

2. A tractor comprising traction means,a rigid frame supported by and surrounding said traction means and carrying a'guide ring, power mechanism mounted upon said rigid frame on one side of said traction means and .having driving connection with said 'traction means, a wheeled stabilizing guide frame car ing a guide ring concen- 'tric with the gui e ring on the rigid frame,

guide rollers mounted in one of said guide rings and engaging the other of said guide rings, and steeringmeehanism mounted on said rigid trame on the side opposite said power mechanism and geared to said guide frame 'for turning said rigid frame horizontallyr relative to said guide frame.

3. A tractor comprising traction means. a rigid frame supported hy and surrounding said traction means, power mechanism mounted upon said rigid frame on one side of said traction means and having driving connection with sald traction means, a

' wheeled stabilizing guide frame surrounding said traction n'leans, coi'icentric channeliron gui-de rings carried respectively hy said rigid frame and said guide frame, vertical and horizontal'rollers journaled in one ol said channel-iron guide `rings and engaging the other of said rings, and steering mechanism mounted upon said rigid frame on the side opposite said power mechanism arid geared to lsaid guide l'rame i'or Iurning said rigid Jframe horizontally relative to said guide trame.v

, 4. A tractor comprising traction means, aI

rigid frame supported by and .surrounding said traction means, power mechanism mounted upon said rig-id Vframe on one side of said traction means and having driving connection with said traction means, a wheeled stabilizing guide frame surrounding said traction means, having Widely spaced wheels and an intermediate -platfoi-nn concentric guide rings carried rel speetivcly bysaid rigid frame and said -guide frame and surrounding said traction means, guide rollers mounted in one of said Arings and engaging'the other of said rings, 

